Related Links

Geneva - More than 5 000 people have fled crisis-hit South Sudan
into neighbouring Uganda since the latest outbreak of violence began on July 7,
the UN said on Tuesday, voicing fears that more could follow.

An estimated 90% of those who have crossed the border in recent
days were women and children, the UN refugee agency said.

The latest wave of people is
mostly fleeing from the southern state of Eastern Equatoria, with others coming
from the capital Juba.

A shaky ceasefire has held for over a week after the fighting that
raged in the capital between soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir and troops
backing the country's Vice-President Riek Machar.

The new outbreak of violence has left hundreds dead and forced
thousands to flee their homes.

"UNHCR expects more people to flee to Uganda," the
agency said in a statement, noting that the number of people now on the move
had risen because the road between Juba and the Ugandan border had been cleared
of checkpoints.

Amnesty International has warned that South Sudanese security
forces were preventing people from leaving the country.

The London-based rights group said that two airlines had been
ordered not to carry South Sudanese nationals, especially men.

The border with Uganda was previously closed on the South Sudan side,
but official restrictions had been eased.

On Monday, African leaders agreed to deploy a protection force in
South Sudan, giving them a more robust mission than the UN peacekeeping mission
currently there.

Fears have risen of a breakdown in protracted efforts to end a
civil war that began in December 2013, two years after the world's newest
nation formally gained independence from Sudan.